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Waste Containment
Facilities
Other Titles of Interest
Final Covers for Solid Waste Landfills and Abandoned Dumps, by Robert M.
Koerner and David E. Daniel (ASCE Press). Essential elements for designing final
covers for solid waste landfills and abandoned dumps. (ISBN 0-7844-0261-2)
Groundwater and Soil Remediation, by Marve Hyman and R. Ryan Dupont (ASCE
Press). Design details and remediation techniques with an emphasis on the inte-
gration of remediation technologies into a process design scheme. (ISBN 0-7844-
0427-5)
TD793.D36 2007
628.4⬘456—dc22 2006026845
www.pubs.asce.org
Any statements expressed in these materials are those of the individual authors and do not nec-
essarily represent the views of ASCE, which takes no responsibility for any statement made herein. No
reference made in this publication to any specific method, product, process, or service constitutes or
implies an endorsement, recommendation, or warranty thereof by ASCE. The materials are for gen-
eral information only and do not represent a standard of ASCE, nor are they intended as a reference
in purchase specifications, contracts, regulations, statutes, or any other legal document.
ASCE makes no representation or warranty of any kind, whether express or implied, concerning
the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or utility of any information, apparatus, product, or process dis-
cussed in this publication, and assumes no liability therefor. This information should not be used with-
out first securing competent advice with respect to its suitability for any general or specific application.
Anyone utilizing this information assumes all liability arising from such use, including but not limited
to infringement of any patent or patents.
ASCE and American Society of Civil Engineers—Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Photocopies and reprints. You can obtain instant permission to photocopy ASCE publications by
using ASCE’s online permission service (www.pubs.asce.org/authors/RightslinkWelcomePage.htm).
Requests for 100 copies or more should be submitted to the Reprints Department, Publications
Division, ASCE (address above); email: [email protected]. A reprint order form can be found at
www.pubs.asce.org/authors/reprints.html.
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Waste Generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.3 Regulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.4 A Generalized Waste-Containment System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.5 Natural Soil Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.6 Geosynthetic Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.7 Geosynthetic Clay Liners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.8 Other Components of Waste Containment Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.9 Importance of CQC/CQA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1.10 Cost of CQA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1.11 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.2 Responsibility and Authority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.3 Personnel Qualifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.4 Written MQA/CQA Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.5 Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
2.6 Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
2.7 Sample Custody . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
2.8 Weather . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2.9 Work Stoppages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2.10 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
v
vi CONTENTS
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
ix
x PREFACE
After the EPA guidance document was published, the authors felt that the
document would experience wider dissemination through publication in book
form and, with ASCE Press as the publisher, would reach a broad-based, consult-
ing and design engineer audience in the United States as well as numerous other
countries. As such, an introductory chapter was added as an explanation of liner
systems, together with a brief background of the various natural and geosynthetic
materials involved. The first edition of the book was published by ASCE in 1995.
Since that time, however, the following activities have occurred:
• Many test methods have been developed or modified (by ASTM, GRI, and
others) to reflect current practice in containment facilities.
• Generic specifications (by ASTM, GRI, PGI, and others) have been developed,
particularly for geosynthetics.
• Field practice has been upgraded. In some instances, completely new prac-
tices have been adopted (e.g., bioreactor landfills and the electrical leak loca-
tion method).
• In a few cases, practices have been modified in favor of more modern and ef-
fective methods.
Thus, this second edition of the book should prove useful. Please note that the
structure of this second edition remains like that of the first, yet the material con-
tained herein has been upgraded considerably.
The authors gratefully acknowledge the many individuals, too numerous to
name here, who over the years have shared their experiences and recommenda-
tions concerning quality assurance and quality control with the authors. The
member organizations of the Geosynthetic Institute are particularly thanked for
support of this effort. Our sincere appreciation is extended to all involved in help-
ing us to develop this book and very much to the anonymous reviewers of this sec-
ond edition, who provided many insightful comments and issues. . . Thank you.
David E. Daniel
Robert M. Koerner
Waste Containment
Facilities
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CHAPTER 1
Introduction to Waste
Containment Systems
1.1 Introduction
Construction quality assurance (CQA) and construction quality control (CQC) are
widely recognized as critically important factors in overall quality management for
waste containment facilities. The best of designs and regulatory requirements will
not necessarily translate to waste containment facilities that are protective of human
health and the environment unless the waste containment and closure facilities
are properly constructed. Additionally, for geosynthetic materials, manufacturing
quality assurance (MQA) and manufacturing quality control (MQC) are equally
important. Geosynthetics refer to fabricated polymeric materials such as geomem-
branes, geotextiles, geonets, geogrids, and geosynthetic clay liners.
The purpose of this book is to provide detailed guidance for proper MQA and
CQA procedures for waste containment facilities. The book is also applicable to
MQC and CQC programs on the part of the geosynthetic manufacturer, installer,
and contractor. Although all waste containment facility designs are different,
MQA and CQA procedures are similar. In this document, no distinction is made
concerning the type of waste to be contained (e.g., hazardous or nonhazardous
waste) because the MQA and CQA procedures needed to ensure quality lining sys-
tems, fluid collection and removal systems, and final cover systems are the same
regardless of the waste type. This book has been written to apply to all types of
waste disposal facilities, including hazardous-waste landfills and impoundments,
municipal solid-waste landfills, various types of liquid impoundments, and final
covers for new facilities and site remediation projects.
This book is also intended to aid those who are preparing MQA/CQA plans,
reviewing MQA/CQA plans, performing MQA/CQA observations and tests, and
reviewing field MQC/CQC and MQA/CQA procedures. Permitting agencies may
use this book as a technical resource to aid in the review of site-specific MQA/CQA
plans and to help identify any deficiencies in the MQA/CQA plan. Owner/opera-
tors and their MQA/CQA consultants may use this book for guidance on the plan,
the process, and the final certification report. Field inspectors may use this book
and the references herein as a guide to field MQA/CQA procedures. Geosynthetic
manufacturers may use the book to help establish appropriate MQC procedures
and as a technical resource to explain the reasoning behind MQA procedures.
1
2 WASTE CONTAINMENT FACILITIES
Construction personnel may use this book to help establish appropriate CQC pro-
cedures and as a technical resource to explain the reasoning behind CQA proce-
dures. Individuals seeking certification may use this book as a textbook. Individuals
working on nonwaste-disposal facilities (e.g., liners for agriculture-related liners
and covers, waste piles, and liquid-retention reservoirs) may use this book as guid-
ance for MQA and CQA. The scope of this book includes all natural soil and geosyn-
thetic components that might normally be used in waste containment facilities
(e.g., in liner systems, fluid collection and removal systems, and cover systems).
This book draws heavily on information presented in several U.S. EPA
Technical Guidance Documents: “Design, Construction, and Evaluation of Clay
Liners for Waste Management Facilities” (1988), “Lining of Waste Containment
and Other Impoundment Facilities” (1989), and “Inspection Techniques for the
Fabrication of Geomembrane Field Seams” (1991). Both editions of this book are
similar to the U.S. EPA document “Technical Guidance Document: Quality Assur-
ance and Quality Control for Waste Containment Facilities” (Daniel and Koerner
1993), but they contain additional information and recommendations. In addi-
tion, technical information concerning many of the principles involved in con-
struction of liner and cover systems for waste containment facilities is provided in
three additional U.S. EPA documents: “Requirements for Hazardous Waste Landfill
Design, Construction, and Closure” (1989), “Design and Construction of RCRA/
CERCLA Final Covers” (1991), and “Assessments and Recommendations for
Improving the Performance of Waste Containment Facilities” (2002). Additionally,
numerous books and technical papers in the literature form a large database from
which information is drawn in the appropriate sections.
This initial chapter introduces the general concepts of liner systems and cus-
tomary components of a waste containment system as constructed in the United
States. It should be recognized that this is a generalized approach and that there
are many possible alternative strategies for waste containment. Furthermore,
other countries have different strategies for the disposal of their wastes. Even
within the United States, individual states have different requirements. The U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) promulgates rules and establishes
minimum technology guidance, but individual states may go beyond these mini-
mum requirements.
Neither this initial chapter nor the book itself covers design. The assumption
is that the design has been completed and that the site-specific plans and specifi-
cations are in existence. This book picks up at that point where the necessary qual-
ity assurance (QA) plan and supporting documents are developed and imple-
mented accordingly.
The amount of solid waste generated in the United States is enormous and con-
tinues to grow despite aggressive recycling efforts. Figure 1-1 gives data collected
by the U.S. EPA for municipal solid waste (MSW). Note that the data in this figure
INTRODUCTION TO WASTE CONTAINMENT 3
Source: Data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
4 WASTE CONTAINMENT FACILITIES
France, Greece, Mexico, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States
all use landfilling as their major waste-disposal method.
Additionally, there are other factors to consider. For example, the U.S. Supreme
Court decided in 1994 that the ash from municipal solid-waste incinerators and
trash-to-steam incinerators may be hazardous and must be evaluated accordingly.
If found to be hazardous (see our later discussion of the definition of hazardous
waste), the ash must be contained, as with other hazardous waste (i.e., in a haz-
ardous-waste landfill with a double liner system).
The following classes of materials, listed in descending order of approximate
degree of hazard, constitute the majority of solid-waste materials (modified from
EPA 1992):
• radioactive waste,
• hazardous waste,
• hospital and research waste,
• municipal solid waste,
• sewage treatment sludge,
• contaminated dredge soil,
• incinerator ash,
• heap leach residual waste,
• electric power-station ash,
• mine spoil, and
• construction demolition waste.
The critical issue pertaining to waste containment facilities (i.e., landfills) is usu-
ally groundwater pollution. The use of some type of liner on the bottom and sides
of landfills that contain solid wastes has been considered necessary in many coun-
tries since the late 1970s. This necessity is created by the liquids in the landfilled
materials, augmented by rainfall and snowmelt, interacting with the waste and
forming a liquid called “leachate.” The leachate flows downward by gravity and,
if not for a liner, continues its migration, eventually causing groundwater and/or
surface-water pollution. Both the quantity and quality of leachate are of concern.
In addition, volatile organics in the waste or leachate, as well as gases of decom-
position such as methane, contribute to landfill gas, which also requires contain-
ment and which, if not contained, poses a threat to the surrounding environment.
1.3 Regulations
In the United States, solid waste is regulated under the Resource Conservation
and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments
(HSWA) to RCRA. The term hazardous waste has a specific, legal definition. Waste
is hazardous if the following conditions are met:
GT (opt.)
GM*
*0.75 mm min.,
1.5 mm if HDPE
P-GM*
S-GM*
*0.75 mm min.,
1.5 mm if HDPE
they existed in 1993 just before the Subtitle D rules took effect. Approximately 20
states required composite liners, and 19 states continued to place sole reliance on
compacted clay liners (CCLs). At the two extremes, 8 states used only geomem-
branes, and 14 states used only natural soil. Some states had alternate strategies,
so the total was greater than 50. The situation was mixed and was rapidly chang-
ing at the time of the survey. Regarding double MSW liner systems with leak
detection capability, 12 states had adopted this type of strategy (as of 1993) for
their MSW material or used it as an alternate strategy. No two states, however,
appear to have had the same recommended cross sections. The general tendency
appeared to be a single geomembrane primary liner with a composite secondary
liner, as in the hazardous waste landfill liner shown in Figure 1-2(b). Regulations
have shifted over the past decade; the largest changes include a uniform use of
composite geomembrane and CCL (i.e., a GM/CCL liner) or the use of geosyn-
thetic clay liners (GCLs) to replace the CCL (i.e., a GM/GCL liner) or to augment
it (i.e., a GM/GCL/CCL liner). The state regulatory requirements for MSW land-
fill liners continue to undergo adjustments.
In addition to the liner system beneath and on the sideslopes of the waste,
a final cover (or closure) must eventually be placed over the completed solid-
waste mass. Requirements for landfill covers are also included in federal regu-
lations. For liner systems of the type shown in Figs. 1-2(a) and (b), a possible
cover above the waste is illustrated in Figure 1-3. For hazardous waste, the strat-
egy for a barrier against water infiltration through the cover is a composite
GM/CCL liner. For nonhazardous MSW, the regulations simply require a bar-
rier to infiltration. The regulations are confusing because they require that the
barrier layer be no more permeable than the bottom liner, but they do not
specifically require a GM/CCL liner (or the equivalent) that has similar per-
formance characteristics to a GM/CCL bottom liner. Furthermore, the required
hydraulic conductivity of the CCL has been raised to 1 ⫻ 10–5 cm/s (Austin
1992). If methane is anticipated, a gas transmission layer may be necessary
beneath the liner. Also, a drainage layer above the liner may be necessary to
drain water coming through the cover soil as well as to maintain stability of the
cover soil. The cover soil may be thick in northern states, where frost penetra-
tion is deep. This protection is required to prevent frost degradation of the CCL
component of the barrier system. The vegetative layer is important for erosion
control. In areas where vegetation cannot be grown or maintained (e.g., arid
areas) the use of cobbles or stone riprap may be required.
Regarding cover systems for MSW, the heavy reliance on a single CCL barrier
by the states was noticeable in 1993; it was the strategy of 36 states (Fahim and
Koerner 1993). Equally noticeable was the lack of a requirement for a composite
liner strategy by the states (required by only 6 states). Between these two extremes,
17 states had adopted a single geomembrane as the barrier system in the cover.
This is a changing situation because many states are rapidly coming into com-
pliance with the federal minimum technology guidance (MTG) regulations. As with
liner systems, the largest change in the past decade is the introduction of GCLs into
final cover systems. GCLs have been used to replace the clay component.
8 WASTE CONTAINMENT FACILITIES
Ground Surface
GM
Figure 1-3. Typical Cover System Recommended by the U.S. EPA and U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers for Landfills with Liner Systems as Shown in Figure 1-2.
Note: GT, geotextile; GN, geonet; and GM, geomembrane.
In all federal legislation and (to our knowledge) state legislation as well, a permit
applicant can suggest that an alternative be used in place of the standardized
design. This option is embodied under the concept of “technical equivalency.”
The concept creates the possibility of using various geosynthetic materials because
the regulations are primarily based on natural soil materials. The following sub-
stitutions might be, and frequently are, considered:
The cover system in Figure 1-4 contains a composite GM/GCL as the barrier
layer. A geotextile gas vent is beneath it, and a composite GT/GN/GT (or other
type of geosynthetic composite) is above it. The cover soil contains geogrids or
high-strength geotextiles as veneer reinforcement for stability. A geocomposite
erosion control system is used on the upper portion of the topsoil. Both tempo-
rary and permanent erosion control materials are used, depending on site-specific
conditions.
An abbreviated discussion on each of the natural soil components and geosyn-
thetic components is provided in the next sections.
cartons are transported to the site where they are placed, overlapped onto adja-
cent sheets, and seamed or joined for the final use. Following are the individual
types of products within the geosynthetics family:
• geomembranes (GMs),
• geotextiles (GTs),
• geonets (GNs),
• geogrids (GGs),
• geosynthetic clay liners (GCLs),
• plastic pipes, also known as “geopipes” (GPs),
• geocomposites (GCs), and
• geosynthetic erosion control (GEC) materials.
1.6.1 Geomembranes
Geomembranes are essentially impermeable sheets of polymeric formulations
used as barriers to liquids and vapors. Geomembranes are required by both fed-
eral and state regulations to be used on the bottom, sides, and generally in the
covers of waste containment facilities. Geomembranes are usually placed directly
over a compacted clay liner (CCL) or geosynthetic clay liner (GCL). The excep-
tion is the primary geomembrane of a Subtitle C facility, in which the geomem-
brane can act alone. The cover of a landfill also requires a geomembrane if the
bottom liner contains one. RCRA Subtitle D regulations clearly state that the cover
must be as impermeable as the liner beneath the waste to prevent long-term
buildup of liquids in the landfill.
The most common types of geomembranes are high-density polyethylene
(HDPE), linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), flex-
ible polypropylene (fPP), reinforced chlorosulfonated polyethylene (CSPE-R), and
nonreinforced or reinforced ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM or EPDM-
R), although other types of geomembranes are also available.
Geomembranes are usually 0.75 to 2.5 mm (30–100 mils, where 1 mil ⫽ 0.001
in.) thick and 4 to 15 m (13–50 ft) wide. It is necessary to prepare and approve the
subgrade or substrate and then to place the geomembrane accordingly. Placement
is followed by seaming, inspection, approving, and backfilling with soil or the
superstratum material in as short a time as possible. A properly designed geomem-
brane has the potential of hundreds of years of service lifetime, but its installation
must be accomplished according to the best possible quality management princi-
ples. Geomembrane manufacture, specification, installation, seaming, backfilling,
and inspection are described in detail in Chapter 4.
INTRODUCTION TO WASTE CONTAINMENT 13
1.6.2 Geotextiles
Geotextiles are permeable textiles made from polymeric fibers. Polypropylene is
the most common polymer (approximately 95% of the total); however, a small
amount of polyester is still used. Geotextiles are manufactured into the following
major types, based on the type of fiber used and the manufacturing method:
• woven monofilament,
• woven slit film,
• nonwoven needle punched, and
• nonwoven heat bonded.
• filtration: above leachate collection sand, gravel, or geonet in the base and
sideslopes of a landfill;
• separation: beneath CCLs or GCLs and above leak detection geonets or gran-
ular soils;
• protection: beneath leachate collection or leak detection gravel and above
geomembranes;
• drainage: above the waste to collect and transmit gases that are generated by
decomposing waste materials; and
• reinforcement: in sideslopes, berms, and cover soils.
1.6.3 Geocomposites
Geocomposites represent a subset of geosynthetics where two or more individual
materials are combined together. They are often laminated and/or bonded to one
another in the manufacturing facility and shipped to the site as a completed unit.
The most common geocomposite used in waste containment is a geotextile bonded
to a geonet, or some other type of drainage core. The principal applications in
landfills are illustrated in Figure 1-4, which shows a geotextile/geonet composite
14 WASTE CONTAINMENT FACILITIES
(100–200 ft) long, weigh up to 1,800 kg (4,000 lb) each, and are wrapped in the
factory to prevent premature hydration. It is important to keep the rolls wrapped
and protected until they are ready for field deployment due to the high moisture
absorption of bentonite. In the field, they are unrolled in their final position and
overlapped. Some GCLs require that additional bentonite be placed in the over-
lap area. The project plans and specifications should be clear on all of these
details.
GCLs are commonly used as the lower component of a GM/GCL composite in
primary liner systems of double-lined waste containment facilities. GCLs are also
used as a GM/GCL composite in landfill closure systems and sometimes as replace-
ments for GM/CCL liner systems beneath the facility. It is important to recognize
that GCLs can be used to augment GM/CCL composite liners in many possible
formats (e.g., a GM/GCL/CCL composite).
Chapter 5 describes the manufacture, specification, shipment, handling, place-
ment, backfilling, and inspection of GCLs.
dation of the organics leading to an anaerobic bioreactor, or even (with the intro-
duction of air) an aerobic bioreactor (Reinhart and Townsend 1998).
The liquids (e.g., leachate, biosolids, waste water, and local precipitation) are
reintroduced into the waste via injection wells or by means of a perforated pipe
network placed beneath a temporary cover. Attention to such details as the pipe
delivery system, holds or slots in the pipe, filter materials (sand or geotextiles),
pipe couplings, waste subsidence, and landfill gas capture is important. Wet land-
fills are a major change in the manner of design, operation, and performance of
landfilling, which will probably see widespread use and acceptance in the near
future.
The soil used for daily cover is usually locally available materials from a bor-
row pit. For excavated, below-grade landfill cells, the excavated soil is the logical
choice for daily cover. The soil cover material is often a clayey soil of low
hydraulic conductivity. Such soil layers often become de facto hydraulic barriers
and tend to isolate each day’s placement of new waste. Downward-moving leachate
cannot easily penetrate a layer of low-permeability daily cover and is forced to
travel horizontally, sometimes seeping through the cover and running down the
exterior sideslopes. Such a situation defeats the purpose of leachate collection sys-
tems, makes management of liquids difficult, and may make leachate recycling
impossible.
INTRODUCTION TO WASTE CONTAINMENT 17
• foams,
• spray-on products,
• indigenous materials, and
• reusable geosynthetics.
The decision to use an ADCM in place of soil cover is a site-specific decision and
should be covered in the design plans and specifications. The products and some
of their details are described in Chapter 9.
Proper construction quality control and quality assurance for waste containment
facilities is neither easy nor inexpensive. There are several motivations for insist-
ing on comprehensive CQC/CQA: better performance of the facility, avoidance of
expensive repairs later, and avoidance of minimization of claims and subsequent
litigation.
Almost everyone who is experienced in construction can cite examples of major
construction errors that led to problems and sometimes catastrophe. Although
good CQA does not guarantee to eliminate all construction problems, it is widely
believed that it will catch most problems. Good CQA is expected to add value
through better performance to almost all waste containment facilities and to vir-
tually eliminate major construction errors in which the contractor fails to follow
plans and specifications.
Leakage rates from double-lined facilities demonstrate the importance of
CQC/CQA. The measurement of actual leakage rates from double-lined landfills
indicates the value of CQA. Bonaparte and Gross (1990) found that leakage rates
of 50 to 500 L/ha-day (5–50 gal/acre-day) are achievable with the presence of
CQA. This early data set also indicated that CQA significantly reduces the leakage
rate through liner systems.
The fact that CQA has been practiced regularly since the 1990 study is evi-
denced in a 2002 study of leakage from 289 double-lined landfill cells in the
18 WASTE CONTAINMENT FACILITIES
United States (Bonaparte et al. 2002). Figure 1-5 presents average leakage rates
from these landfill cells at different stages. Stage 1 is during construction and ini-
tial waste placement, Stage 2 is after considerable waste has been placed, and
Stage 3 is after final cover is placed. Each point represents the average of the num-
Figure 1-5. Leakage Rates from 289 Double-Lined Landfill Cells in the
United States with Different Types of Primary Liners: (a) Sand Leak Detection
System and (b) Geonet Leak Detection System.
Note: GM, geomembrane; CCL, compacted clay liner; GCL, geosynthetic clay liner and
1.0 L per hectare-day ⯝ 0.1 gal/acre-day.
INTRODUCTION TO WASTE CONTAINMENT 19
ber of landfill cells indicated in parentheses. The data indicate that a geomem-
brane (by itself) as primary liner allows for the highest leakage. A geomembrane
over compacted clay liner (GM/CCL) composite results in almost as much leakage,
the true amount of leakage being masked by expelled consolidation water from
the CCL. A geomembrane over geosynthetic clay liner (GM/GCL) composite is
clearly the preferred system for a primary liner system, resulting in extremely low
leakage rates approaching negligible after Stage 2 is reached. Field data (such as
those in Figure 1-5) are powerful in helping us understand the behavior of liner
systems and set values for action leakage rates (ALRs). The situation can become
quite contentious if an ALR has been set for the site and it is exceeded because of
lack of, or poor, CQC and CQA. This same study highlighted a number of critical
issues that must be incorporated into all CQA plans and documents. They are the
following:
Numerous aspects are involved in the costs associated with construction quality
assurance and control (CQA/CQC) of field installations, as well as manufacturing
quality assurance and control (MQA/MQC) of manufactured geosynthetics. Because
both CQC and MQC are actions taken on the part of contractors, installers, and
manufacturers of their respective materials, it is expected that expenditures are
more than offset by reduced failure rates of samples and the improved quality of
the final installation. Indeed, this improvement is the hallmark of total quality
management, which is the keyword of current industrial practice.
More controversial are the costs associated with CQA and MQA and the ben-
efits derived therefrom. Shepherd et al. (1993) have summarized these CQA expenses
from the perspective of a major owner/operator. As seen in Table 1-2, leakage rates
in double-lined systems appear to be significantly reduced by CQA. Admittedly,
the data are sparse, but this is the trend that one would anticipate. Shepherd and
others have found that CQA costs for a single composite liner range from approx-
imately $31,000 to $74,000 per hectare ($12,500–$30,000 per acre). The CQA
costs for double composite liner systems range from $53,000 to $121,000 per
hectare ($21,000–$49,000 per acre). Understandably, there is a major difference
20 WASTE CONTAINMENT FACILITIES
Source: Shepherd et al. 1993, with permission from Geosynthetic Information Institute.
in CQA costs between single composite liners and double composite liners. If the
costs cited included the MQA costs of the geosynthetics, the totals would be mar-
ginally higher.
Shepherd et al. (1993) also itemized comparative costs of CQA of single liner
systems versus costs of other components of liner systems (Table 1-2). The cost of
CQA is approximately equal to the cost of an additional liner. A rule of thumb is
that CQA, at a reasonable level of effort, adds an additional 5% to 15% to the cost
of construction and installation.
1.11 References
Shepherd, J., Rivette, C. A., and Nava, R. C. (1993). “Landfill liner CQA: A summary of
real costs and a question of true value.” Proc. 6th GRI Seminar, MQC/MQA and CQC/
CQA of Geosynthetics, Geosynthetic Research Institute, Philadelphia, 29–35.
U.S. EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). (1988). “Design, construction, and eval-
uation of clay liners for waste management facilities,” U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, Cincinnati, Ohio, EPA/530-86-007F.
U.S. EPA. (1989). “Lining of waste containment and other impoundment facilities,” U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, Ohio, EPA/600/2-88/052.
U.S. EPA. (1989). “Requirements for hazardous waste landfill design, construction, and clo-
sure,” U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, Ohio, EPA/625/4-89/022.
U.S. EPA. (1991). “Design and construction of RCRA/CERCLA final covers,” U.S. Environ-
mental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, Ohio, EPA/625/4-91/025.
U.S. EPA. (1991). “Inspection techniques for the fabrication of geomembrane field seams,”
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, Ohio, EPA/530/SW-91/051.
U.S. EPA. (1992). “Characterization of municipal solid waste in the United States: 1992
update,” U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, Ohio, EPA/530-R-92-019.
U.S. EPA. (2002). “Assessments and recommendations for improving the performance of
waste containment facilities,” U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati,
Ohio, EPA/600/R-02/099.
van Keen, F., and Mensink, A. (1985). “Brief survey of arrangements for the disposal of
chemical waste in a number of industrialized countries,” Hazard. Waste Hazard. Mater.,
2(3), 333–353.
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CHAPTER 2
2.1 Introduction
2.1.1 Scope
Construction quality assurance (CQA) and construction quality control (CQC) are
widely recognized as critically important factors in overall quality management for
waste containment facilities. Additionally, for geosynthetic materials, manufactur-
ing quality assurance (MQA) and manufacturing quality control (MQC) of the final
product are equally important.
The purpose of this book is to provide detailed guidance for proper MQA and
CQA procedures for waste containment facilities. The book also is applicable to
MQC and CQC programs on the part of the manufacturer and contractor, respec-
tively. Although facility designs are different, MQA and CQA procedures are the
same. In this book, no distinction is made concerning the type of waste to be con-
tained (e.g., hazardous or nonhazardous waste) because the MQA and CQA pro-
cedures needed to inspect quality lining systems, fluid collection and removal sys-
tems, and final cover systems are the same regardless of the waste type. This book
has been written to apply to all types of waste-disposal facilities, including new
hazardous-waste landfills and impoundments, new municipal solid-waste landfills,
nonhazardous waste liquid impoundments, and final covers for new facilities, as
well as site remediation projects.
This book is intended to aid those who are preparing MQA/CQA plans,
reviewing MQA/CQA plans, performing MQA/CQA observations and tests, and
reviewing field MQA/CQA and MQC/CQC procedures. Permitting agencies may
use the book as a technical resource to aid in the review of site-specific MQA/CQA
plans and to help in the identification of any deficiencies in MQA/CQA plans.
Owner/operators and their MQA/CQA consultants may consult the book for guid-
23
24 WASTE CONTAINMENT FACILITIES
ance on the plan, the process, and the final certification report. Field inspectors
(also called field monitors) may use the book and the references herein as a guide
to field MQA/CQA procedures. Geosynthetics manufacturers may use the book to
help in establishing appropriate MQC procedures and as a technical resource to
explain the reasoning behind MQA procedures. Construction personnel may use
the book to help in establishing appropriate CQC procedures and as a technical
resource to explain the reasoning behind CQA procedures.
This book draws heavily on technical information presented in three U.S. EPA
Technical Guidance Documents: “Design, Construction, and Evaluation of Clay
Liners for Waste Management Facilities” (U.S. EPA 1988a), “Lining of Waste
Containment and Other Impoundment Facilities” (1988b), and “Inspection
Techniques for the Fabrication of Geomembrane Field Seams” (1991a). In addi-
tion, general technical backup information concerning many of the principles
involved in construction of liner and cover systems for waste containment facilities
is provided in three additional U.S. EPA documents: “Requirements for Hazardous
Waste Landfill Design, Construction, and Closure” (U.S. EPA 1989), “Design and
Construction of RCRA/CERCLA Final Covers” (1991b), and “Assessment and
Recommendations for Improving the Performance of Waste Containment Systems”
(2002). Additionally, numerous books and technical papers in the open literature
form a large database from which information and reference will be drawn in the
appropriate sections. This is the second edition of the original 1993 publication
(U.S. EPA 1993; Daniel and Koerner 1995); it maintains the same structure but
updates and extends test method practices, guides, and generic specifications
accordingly.
2.1.2 Definitions
It is important to define and understand the differences between MQC and MQA
and between CQC and CQA and to show where the different activities contrast
and complement one another. The following definitions are appropriate in this
regard.
MQA and CQA are performed independently from MQC and CQC. Although
MQA/CQA and MQC/CQC are separate activities, they have similar objectives and,
in a smoothly running project, the processes will complement one another. Con-
versely, an effective MQA/CQA program can lead to identification of deficiencies
in the MQC/CQC process, but an MQA/CQA program by itself (in complete
absence of an MQC/CQC program) is unlikely to lead to acceptable quality man-
agement. Quality is best ensured with effective MQC/CQC and MQA/CQA pro-
grams. See Figure 2-1 for the usual interaction of the various elements in a total
program. Note that the concepts embodied in Figure 2-1 should also pertain to
ancillary operations such as test pads, leak location surveys, and related critical
field activities.
of Mines, or their regional or state affiliates are sometimes also involved. The
permitting agency reviews the owner/operator’s permit application, including
plans, specifications, and the site-specific MQA/CQA document, for compli-
ance with the agency’s regulations and to make a decision to issue or deny a
MQA AND CQA CONCEPTS AND OVERVIEW 27
permit based on this review. The permitting agency also has the responsibil-
ity to review all MQA/CQA documentation during or after construction of a
facility, possibly including visits to the manufacturing facility and construction
site to observe the MQC/CQC and MQA/CQA practices and to confirm that
the approved MQA/CQA plan was followed and that the facility was constructed
as specified in the design.
• Owner/Operator. This organization (private or public) will own and operate the
disposal unit. The owner/operator is responsible for the design, construction,
and operation of the waste disposal unit. This responsibility includes comply-
ing with the requirements of the permitting agency, submitting MQA/CQA
documentation, and assuring the permitting agency that the facility was con-
structed as specified in the construction plans and specifications and as approved
by the permitting agency. The owner/operator has the authority to select and
dismiss organizations charged with design, construction, and MQA/CQA. If
the owner and operator of a facility are different organizations, the owner is
ultimately responsible for these activities. Often the owner/operator or owner
will be a municipality rather than a private corporation. The interaction of a
state regulatory office with another state or local owner/operator organization
should have absolutely no effect on procedures, intensity of effort, and ulti-
mate decisions of the MQA/CQA or MQC/CQC process as described herein.
• Owner’s Representative. The owner/operator has an official representative who
is responsible for coordinating schedules, meetings, and field activities. This
responsibility includes coordination among all parties involved, that is, the
owner’s representative, the permitting agency, material suppliers, the general
contractor, specialty subcontractors or installers, and the MQA/CQA engineer.
• Design Engineer. The design engineer’s primary responsibility is to design a
waste containment facility that fulfills the operational requirements of the
owner/operator, complies with accepted design practices for waste contain-
ment facilities, and meets or exceeds the minimum requirements of the per-
mitting agency. The design engineer may be an employee of the owner/oper-
ator or a design consultant hired by the owner/operator. The design engineer
may be requested to change some aspects of the design if unexpected condi-
tions are encountered during construction (e.g., a change in site conditions,
unanticipated logistical problems during construction, or lack of availability of
certain materials). Because design changes during construction are not uncom-
mon, the design engineer is often involved in the MQA/CQA process. The
plans and specifications referred to in this manual will generally be the prod-
uct of the design engineer. The design engineer is a major and essential part
of the permit application process and the subsequently constructed facility.
• Manufacturer. Many components of a waste containment facility, including all
geosynthetics, are manufactured materials. The manufacturer is responsible
for the manufacture of its materials and for quality control during manufacture
(i.e., MQC). The minimum or maximum (when appropriate) characteristics of
acceptable materials should be specified in the permit application. The man-
ufacturer is responsible for certifying that its materials conform to those spec-
28 WASTE CONTAINMENT FACILITIES
Quality assurance begins with a plan that eventually becomes the QA document.
The words “plan” and “document” are used interchangeably. The final work
MQA AND CQA CONCEPTS AND OVERVIEW 33
product includes both MQA and CQA. These activities are never ad hoc processes
that are developed while they are being implemented. A written MQA/CQA plan
or document must precede any field construction activities.
The MQA/CQA plan is the owner/operator’s written document for MQA/CQA
activities. The MQA/CQA document should include a detailed description of all
MQA/CQA activities that will be used during materials manufacturing and con-
struction to manage the installed quality of the facility. The MQA/CQA document
should be tailored to the specific facility to be constructed and be completely inte-
grated into the project plans and specifications. Differences should be settled
before any construction work commences.
Most state and federal regulatory agencies require that the MQA/CQA docu-
ment be submitted by the owner/operator and be approved by that agency before
construction. The MQA/CQA document is usually part of the permit application.
A copy of the site-specific plans and specifications, MQA/CQA plan, and
MQA/CQA documentation reports should be retained at the facility by the owner/
operator or the MQA/CQA engineer. The plans, specifications, and MQA/CQA
documents may be reviewed during a site inspection by the permitting agency and
will be the chief means for the facility owner/operator to demonstrate to the per-
mitting agency that the MQA/CQA objectives for a project are being met.
Written MQA/CQA documents vary greatly from project to project. No gen-
eral outline or suggested list of topics is applicable to all projects or all regulatory
agencies. The elements covered in this document provide guidance on topics that
should be addressed in the written MQA/CQA plan.
2.5 Documentation
other reports and aids in tracking what was done and by whom. At a minimum,
the daily summary reports should contain the following (modified from Spigolon
and Kelly 1984; U.S. EPA 1986, 1993):
• date, project name, location, waste containment unit under construction, per-
sonnel involved in major activities, and other relevant identification information;
• description of weather conditions, including temperature, cloud cover, and
precipitation;
• summaries of any meetings held and actions recommended or taken;
• specific work units and locations of construction underway during that partic-
ular day;
• equipment and personnel being used in each work task, including sub-
contractors;
• identification of areas or units of work being inspected;
• testing conducted and test methods that are used;
• unique identifying sheet number of geomembranes for cross-referencing and
document control;
• description of off-site materials received, including any quality control data
provided by suppliers;
• calibrations or recalibrations of test equipment, including actions taken as a
result of recalibration;
• decisions made regarding approval of units of material or of work, and cor-
rective actions to be taken in instances of substandard or suspect quality;
• unique identifying sheet numbers of inspection data sheets and problem
reporting and corrective measures used to substantiate any MQA/CQA deci-
sions described in the previous item; and
• the signature of the MQA/CQA engineer.
* * * * *
In Portraiture, the only failing that can be laid to Gainsborough’s
charge—and it may at times be a serious one—is that he was apt to be
less impressed by individuality of character than by the occasion which
his subject presented for the painter’s triumph in brush-work. Facile
observer as he was, and wonderful draughtsman, it was not often that
he braced himself to such an effort of stern realism as was made in
the portrait of ‘Judge Skinner.’ This light of the law, sitting robed—with
the keen, sagacious face perfectly dominant over all the splendour of
attire—was painted (on the canvas of which we are now speaking) for
Christ Church, Oxford, of which in 1742 he had been a student; but
the Grosvenor Gallery contains another, though a less admirable,
presentment of the same person. This, though inferior, comes likewise
from an unimpeachable quarter—it is lent by the Honourable Society of
Lincoln’s Inn. Of portraits of William Pitt, there are several by
Gainsborough; but his best representation of all, of the young man
who governed England, is that which comes, like the second portrait of
Skinner, from Lincoln’s Inn. The natural charm of the model here
accorded with that which was the frequent preoccupation of
Gainsborough’s art, and sincere must have been the painter’s pleasure
in dealing with a face which—like the face of Dickens in his youth, two
generations later—expressed sweetness with firmness, and placidity
with boundlessness of resource. The portrait of ‘David Garrick’ is less
satisfactory as an effort of craftsmanship. The shrewd little lady who
succeeded the great and genial Peg Woffington in Garrick’s love,
declared that it was the ‘best portrait ever painted of her Davy,’ so we
will not attempt to dispute the excellence of the likeness; but the
thought that inspired the composition was comparatively trivial and
commonplace. In a park-like scene, the background somewhat
suggestive of Garrick’s favourite retreat at Hampton, the actor whose
attentions were wont to be divided between the Tragic and the Comic
Muse—as Sir Joshua has expressed so suggestively in his happy
allegory—stands by a pedestal on which is placed the bust of
Shakespeare, and Garrick has his arm round the bust, and almost
familiarly caresses it. More valuable would have been a picture in
which the head of the actor had been more dominant than the dégagé
gesture. The head of Garrick, however, if the story goes truly, was
always a puzzle to Gainsborough. Of Garrick and of Foote—mobile
comedians, baffling beyond all men—he is said to have exclaimed,
when he essayed to paint them, ‘Rot them for a couple of rogues, they
have everybody’s faces but their own.’
Generally, it may be noted, the full-lengths of men—sometimes,
also, the full-lengths of women—are less attractive than the half-
lengths and the busts, though whatever could be done by any artist to
overcome the difficulty of making the full-length interesting, could be
done by Gainsborough, since he was a master of draperies, and
skilled, as a pupil of Gravelot’s should have been, in the secrets of
dignified and gracious carriage. But, to remain for the moment with
the men’s portraits, one’s admiration of the elegance and harmony of
Tenducci’s portrait must be in excess of any feeling that can rightly be
prompted by the ‘Garrick.’ This, again, is the portrait of an artist—
Gainsborough’s sympathies were with artists—and Tenducci is said to
have ‘warbled so divinely.’ And then, to take an instance from the
women’s portraits, and to single out a full-length figure, in which the
face is modelled with exceptional exactness, and is one, too, of
peculiar refinement, take the portrait of Lady Sheffield, with her
aquiline nose and her almond-shaped eyes—even here the importance
of the countenance is a little effaced by the brilliant light on the showy
drapery of the skirt. No one could assert that, for real charm, that
picture—masterly as it is in its own kind—is equal to any one of half a
dozen busts or half-lengths in the same Gallery. But, on the other
hand, the ‘Sir Bate Dudley,’ ‘skilled in the nice conduct of a clouded
cane,’ is an instance of Gainsborough’s occasional triumph, even with
the full-length male figure; and the ‘Mrs. Graham,’ at Edinburgh, is one
of the most fascinating full-length portraits of a woman that has been
painted since the days of the Venetians. Furthermore, three more
quite masterly full-length male portraits are in the Grosvenor Gallery
itself: they are first, those that are lent by the Queen, the portrait of
Colonel St. Leger, the portrait of ‘Fischer’ the musician, and last, the
familiar ‘Blue Boy,’ a work directed possibly at the theories of Sir
Joshua and inspired by the practice of Van Dyck.
As one looks over the subjects of Gainsborough’s portraits, one
understands in part how it was that, comparing them with Sir
Joshua’s, or perhaps even with Romney’s, so few of them were
engraved. Romney was, above all things, seductive: he saw Lady
Hamilton—or when not Lady Hamilton, then some one who was almost
equally pretty—in everything, and the public liked what he saw. Sir
Joshua was a courtier, careful to be on the best of terms with the great
world. Gainsborough courted nobody, and the world talked much less
about him. Though, after the lapse of years, he succeeded in getting a
hundred guineas for a full-length picture, and moved, without
imprudence, from the cottage at Ipswich, rented at six pounds, first to
the Circus at Bath, and then to the west wing of Schomberg House,
Pall Mall, he was never really in his own time Sir Joshua’s rival in the
public favour. And much of his best work in Portraiture—over and
above that work in landscape which confessedly engaged his choice—
was devoted to the record of people of the artistic rather than the
fashionable world; people of professions the members of which were
not in those days motioned to the velvet of the social sward.
We have already spoken of more than one instance—and ‘Giardini,’
the fiddler, is another—of such a natural selection which governs
Gainsborough’s art. It is as characteristic of him in portraiture as it is
of Watteau in genre pieces and gallant pastorals. But there is a little
canvas, the portrait of an unknown Mrs. Carr, which holds its own
either against portraits of people from the artistic world or people from
Georgian ‘Society.’ It is curiously natural and refined in expression,
exquisitely suggestive of elegant carriage, though so small a portion of
the figure is seen, and as a piece of flesh-painting, it is unsurpassed
by any of the more famous examples of Gainsborough’s skill. Who was
‘Mrs. Carr’? And had Gainsborough, we may wonder, some further
interest in her than that which is aroused in any qualified observer of
Humanity by the vision of such agreeable beauty? For Gainsborough,
as a rule, painted best the models he knew the most. Executing every
touch with his own hand, and doing his most picturesque with every
model because he was so essentially artistic, he yet must have
undertaken many a portrait of fashionable persons or of enriched
bourgeois, into the dull recesses of whose character he did not care to
penetrate. Where he knew and liked, he painted with delight. He was
so profoundly impressionable: what he enjoyed stirred him: if
somebody played the fiddle particularly well, tears of rapture stood on
Gainsborough’s cheek.
His wife, who was in her youth a rose and brown coloured beauty,
and whose countenance was long afterwards lustrous enough under
the becoming grey of her powdered hair, Gainsborough painted several
times, and always with distinction and conspicuous artistry. His
handling of the subject is best in the portrait numbered 175—a worthy
companion to his own sensitive and high-bred countenance (No. 185).
And his portraits of his daughters—his only children—are at the least
satisfying. One is a group—the two together; another is a half-length
of Mrs. Fischer; another, again, a half-length of the brighter personality
who remained ‘Miss Gainsborough.’ There is some likeness between
the two young women, in the general contour of the head and in the
fulness of the under-lip. ‘Miss Gainsborough,’ with her clear brown
eyes, delicate eyebrows, compact and intelligent forehead, is the
greater beauty; but to Mrs. Fischer there belongs a winning expression
of pathetic reverie. Both are felt to be the true daughters of their
father: the one by her possession of the gaiety and fire of temper
which characterised Gainsborough in his happiest times; the other by
her obvious inheritance of what proved more than her share of
Gainsborough’s keen perception of the sadness of so much of human
fortune. Sir Joshua Reynolds, who was almost wholly intellectual and
‘practical,’ who lived on the outside of things, had nothing of
Gainsborough’s sense of profundity and pathos. And, in so far as he
had nothing of this, he was, in the essentials of character, the less of
an artist. For Goethe said—and when he said it he was uttering one of
the deepest of his truths—‘To be artistic is to be serious.’
(The Standard, 1st and 6th January 1885.)
COTMAN
It remained for the Norwich Art Circle to hold, for the first time, an
exhibition of the drawings of an artist who was nothing less than a
great master in water-colour, but whose place in the ranks of Art
was for many a year, by the general public, not so much contested
as ignored. Cotman was born a few years after Turner. Possessed of
a sensibility as keen, but of less tremendous vitality, he died a few
years before him. Turner was amongst Cotman’s friends; not a
‘chum,’ perhaps, but an advocate, strenuous and judicious—and
strenuous and judicious advocacy may claim to be called friendship.
Had it not been for Turner, it is unlikely that the less-known artist
would have received that post at King’s College which afforded him
comfort, though not affluence, in the last years of his life. Like
Dewint, Cotman taught drawing. But in London his connection was
less influential than that of Dewint, whose usual fee of a guinea an
hour was no doubt never reached by the draughtsman from
Norwich. The appointment of drawing-master at King’s College was
therefore very serviceable: the more so that Cotman’s original work,
though it was produced with the enthusiasm and the untiring
enjoyment, and the sweat of the brow besides, which in any art are
the real artist’s equivalents or substitutes for mechanical diligence—
Cotman’s original work, I say (like a little of Mozart’s best music),
was produced ‘for himself and two friends.’ Even the connoisseur, as
a rule, held back. The public? But can you for an instant expect the
public to understand work which, frankly, makes no bid for its
sympathies, which is never furnished ‘according to sample,’ which is
bound to be itself and wholly fresh, and is content to be excellent?
An intelligent criticism might perhaps have drummed into the big
public, not the real sense, but at all events some tacit acceptance, of
Cotman’s peculiar merit. But where was the intelligent criticism of
1820 and 1830? There was little critical writing then—at all events in
the papers—that was either an influence or an art.
John Sell Cotman was born at Norwich on the 16th of May 1782.
His father was a well-to-do haberdasher, established at that time in
Cockey Lane, but afterwards, when able to retire from business,
living in a villa at Thorpe, with a garden that looked on the river.
Cotman himself drew the garden—and idealised it—in the last year
of his life. His father survived him; dying very old—at eighty-four.
Cotman died at sixty.
Whatever troubles there had been on the subject of Cotman’s
trade or profession, they were got over by the simple process of his
going his own way, and of his father’s forgiving him. The boy was
educated at the grammar school, and at sixteen years old, after
much discussion about his future—after the interposition of Opie,
with the not very measured remark that the boy ‘had far better black
shoes than be an artist’—young Cotman chose the less desirable of
these unhappy alternatives, and, that he might be an artist,
journeyed to London. A young man at that period, and especially a
young man who was wishing to be a landscape painter, had little
opportunity of artistic training, unless indeed it might be that best
kind of training which consists in familiarity with people of mind, and
with the works of art that bygone genius has produced, and with
those natural scenes which, like the voice or the face of your friend,
stimulate and enrich and endow with a new experience. Cotman in
these things was happy. He was trained by the world, and by those
lessons in noble by-past Art which he was so well fitted to receive.
His own true taste, and the faculty of real development—which some
of us call, like Wordsworth, ‘a leading from above: a something
given’—made him independent of academic influence; and in his
case no one undertook the academic task, and made the too-
confident promise to turn into fine gold what is brass at the
beginning, and must be brass to the end. Cotman was fine gold. He
was, that is to say, an artist born, not manufactured.
At the hospitable house of Dr. Munro, in the Adelphi Terrace, the
young man fell into association with a group of painters, most of
whom were his seniors. At eighteen years old he exhibited six
drawings at the Royal Academy, and while he was still extremely
young, he presided over a little society—a sketching club, one may
call it—of which Varley and Dr. Munro were members. At very
moderate prices his drawings seem to have found a sale, and he
began to make excursions into remote parts of the country—into
Yorkshire and Lincolnshire—besides visiting his family at Norwich. It
was either at Norwich or Yarmouth, in the first years of the century,
that he made the acquaintance of Dawson Turner, the antiquary.
That acquaintance became a friendship, and, to use the phrase of
Charles Lamb in regard to such matters, ‘a friendship that answered.’
Dawson Turner was at once, and for many a year afterwards, a help
to Cotman. And as a serious student—not only a rich dilettante—he
knew that he gained as much as Cotman from their association. ‘We
value him greatly,’ Dawson Turner wrote to Cotman’s father, very
long after their first introduction, and when it was wanted to arouse
the father to an understanding of Cotman’s position, and of his
depressed state.
In November 1805 we find Cotman established in Charlotte
Street, Portland Place, writing to Dawson Turner that he had been in
Yorkshire and Durham all the autumn, ‘making many close copies of
the fickle Dame Nature—copies,’ writes Cotman, not very elegantly,
‘consequently valuable on that account.’ A hope of settling in
Norwich—of working, and founding a drawing-class there—was now
growing upon him, and in 1806 it was accomplished. A young
bachelor of four-and-twenty—personally a little extravagant, but
taking his art very seriously—he possessed himself of an excellent
house in Luckett’s Court, Wymer Street. I saw the house this
summer. A dignified house, with gables of the Seventeenth Century,
and much of the interior woodwork seemingly of the early
Eighteenth. For six years Cotman lived there. There, was wrought
almost all the best of his earlier art: Mr. J. J. Colman’s ‘St. Luke’s
Chapel’; Mr. Reeve’s ‘Twickenham’ (from a yet earlier sketch); the
same collector’s ‘Mousehold Heath’; my own ewe lamb, ‘Bishopgate
Bridge’; and a mass of work besides—much of which,
unquestionably, has been mislaid, neglected, ruined, forgotten.
The exhibition held at Norwich—to which I began by referring—
gave us an excellent opportunity of really studying this rarer and
earlier art. I am not thinking of the insignificant fact that there was
to be seen there a puerile yet rather clever performance which dates
from Cotman’s twelfth year; but to the assemblage of work of the
early time when he was really an artist—from 1800, say, to 1812.
What was the character of his labour then? With whom did he
sympathise? Whom did he at all resemble? The influence of Turner
and of Girtin is to be detected in some of the work of this period—in
the noble architectural work, especially—and it is not in the slightest
degree unlikely that, in his turn, Cotman exercised some influence
over Turner; at a much later time I mean, when everyday sobriety
sufficed for neither of them, and when Cotman, surely quite as much
as Turner, led the way to revelries of colour. Between Cotman and
Girtin there could be no such reciprocity of influence, for Girtin died,
an accomplished master of water-colour, though less than thirty
years old, in 1802, and Cotman was then but twenty.
Mr. Colman’s large and solid and sober drawing of ‘Durham’ (it
has these qualities, and yet is, somehow, without charm) reminds
me of an early Girtin; while a Girtin of the finer sort, just as simple,
just as straightforward, yet with something of the later magic of the
hand, is recalled by Mr. Reeve’s ‘Bridge over the Greta.’ A quiet
realism; a sense of the picturesque, entertained but yet subdued; a
composition, ordered, yet not seemingly artificial; a breadth that was
never thereafter for a moment departed from—these are, perhaps,
the characteristics of the mature and noble drawings of the earlier
period, such as ‘St. Luke’s Chapel,’ ‘Bishopgate Bridge,’ and
‘Mousehold Heath.’ Wherever there is opportunity for it—as, in my
‘Bishopgate Bridge,’ in the yew-tree to the left and the slope of the
bank to the river—there comes in Cotman’s sense of grace, his
appreciation of style and of dignity, his avoidance of mere
topography; but it is in Mr. Reeve’s ‘Twickenham’—thanks to the
occasion of which the scene itself is lavish—that that sense of grace
dominates, and the stately trees throw their shadows over the lawn
by the water.
In 1812, Cotman removed to South Town, Yarmouth; Dawson
Turner being, presumably, at the bottom of the change. The
painter’s association with the interesting antiquary became more and
more intimate. Purely architectural, or, as one might say,
monumental, draughtsmanship was at this time a good deal
occupying him. He was issuing at the moment the first part of the
Antiquities of Norfolk. In the year 1817, he paid, on the advice of
Dawson Turner, a first visit to Normandy. He went there again in
1819 and 1820; and, two years after the third visit, his Architectural
Antiquities of Normandy saw the light. It was not until 1838 that he
produced the book which best represents the characteristics of his
style—the book in which, fettered by no established task, his sense
of elegance, his genius for composition in line and in light and
shade, had free play—I mean, of course, his Liber Studiorum: soft
ground-etchings of unquestioned force and charm. But at Yarmouth
he had much to engage him. His range of subjects increased. There
it was that he acquired the close knowledge of coast ‘effects’ and of
marine architecture which made him, in addition to all his other
capacities, so excellent a painter of the shore and sea.
It was in 1823, I think, that Cotman left Yarmouth: a married
man in early middle age, with five young children. He did it to
establish himself again at Norwich, hoping perhaps to sell his
pictures better there, and expecting again to add to his group of
pupils—he still went regularly and frequently to those who learnt of
him at Yarmouth. This time it was only a house opposite the Bishop’s
Palace—the address, ‘St. Martin’s at Palace’—that sufficed for
Cotman’s needs, or Cotman’s ambitions. But before long, though he
made no change, his mind suffered tortures from the costliness of
his new abode, and the unremunerative character of the adventure.
He went to the Dawson Turners in utter gloom, and then it was that
his excellent friend wrote to him and to his father letters full of tact,
wisdom, and feeling, pointing out to the well-to-do father that
Cotman must really be relieved, and pointing out, to the now
depressed and now exalted genius of a son, that his position, could
he but face it, and retrench a little, was not by any means so bad.
The existence of the letters on this subject allows us entrance into
the intimacy of these housekeeping troubles, and of the troubles of
mind that threatened to be more serious. But we do not get the end
of the story. We can only suppose that Cotman’s father, who was
really on good terms with him, afforded reasonable help, and that
though the house was not moved from with promptitude, the
expenses inside it were curtailed. Cotman rubbed on, somehow, and
in 1834 he received the appointment which I spoke of at the
beginning—that post of drawing-master at King’s College, London,
which he was to retain till his death.
Preparing to quit Norwich, and wishing to put money in his purse
before doing so, he had a sale by auction of many of his effects.
These included nearly twenty of his paintings in oil, and five guineas
was the highest price realised for any one of them. He sold, likewise,
some copies of his printed book: the demand proving by no means
‘active’—they were indeed rather ‘quiet’ than ‘lively’ or ‘firm’—but of
the drawings he wisely kept back all that were still in his possession:
they were destined to be serviceable in his King’s College lessons.
After a brief sojourn in Gerrard Street, Soho—a mere
preparatory time—Hunter Street, Brunswick Square, was the spot
fixed upon by Cotman for his London home. But he went down to
Norwich still, now and then, in the autumn. His son, ‘J. J.,’ already
gifted, and afterwards eccentric, was settled there. Cotman wrote
letters to him, in many moods, now bright and fanciful, now
depressed and forlorn. He was fond of the Thames before the
Thames was popular—witness Mr. Reeve’s early ‘Twickenham,’ and
Mr. Pyke Thompson’s later ‘Twickenham,’ the ‘Golden Twickenham’ of
the Turner house at Penarth—and in one of those letters to the son
‘J. J.,’ there is ‘the log’ that records the adventures of Mr. Cotman’s
‘voyage’ with others of the ship’s company to Windsor, where they
were ‘not victualled from hence’—from London, that is to say—and
so might be expected to put in at Datchet. Then later, the brightness
was all gone, and illness was upon him. ‘It was my duty, it was my
wish, and I threatened to paint for your sake when you were here,
but I could not; I was ill in body, and spiritless.’
5
Again, still later, ‘I am not quite well, but better. I am painting.’
And then he could paint no more. He died, in Hunter Street, in July
1842, and was buried on the 30th of that month, in what is now the
dull suburban cemetery behind St. John’s Wood Chapel, within
sound of the cheers from ‘Lord’s’ and the screech of the Metropolitan
Railway.
5
These letters, some of which belong to Mr.
Reeve, and others to the British Museum, have
been quoted from more amply in my Studies in
English Art.